BJ McConnell
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Post by BJ McConnell on Jan 18, 2020 1:19:22 GMT -5
The Book of Acts Chapters 19-20 Read It OnlinePaul's Ministry to the Gentiles Continues This discussion is now closed.
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lizrodriguez67
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Post by lizrodriguez67 on Mar 23, 2020 22:57:32 GMT -5
Hey I figured out how to leave a message!!!!!!
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lizrodriguez67
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Post by lizrodriguez67 on Mar 23, 2020 23:01:26 GMT -5
Honestly reading it and it's kind of hard because it's a hard passage to follow At least it was for me. Although I find it incredibly amazing how miracles can be performed and they are still on everybody's hit list. I mean look Paul laid on top the man raised him from the dead and it pleased nobody seriously!!!!
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lizrodriguez67
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Post by lizrodriguez67 on Mar 23, 2020 23:03:48 GMT -5
I read the first chapter in the passion translation I then New King James version for the second chapter. I think I'm going back to the passion translation...It is easier to follow lol
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lizrodriguez67
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Post by lizrodriguez67 on Mar 24, 2020 7:47:35 GMT -5
Ok here is a good example of what I mean about the Passion Translation being easier. When I read from the King James I seriously thought that nobody cared after Paul raised Eutychus, the man that fell three stories from the window, from the dead. In the Passion Translation it says everyone was ENCOURAGED. I did not get that from the King James...so which one was it???
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lizrodriguez67
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Post by lizrodriguez67 on Mar 24, 2020 7:59:18 GMT -5
Also I LOVE Paul's attitude. He tells everyone "Stop your worrying. He's come back to life!" Then he goes back upstairs serves communion, eats with them then picks back up where he left off teaching!!! Like it's all in a day's work! Paul is showing us as we walk and have a FELLOWSHIP with the Lord we should expect these type things...miracles, signs and wonders. It should be apart of every day Life. If you truly believe what we say we do then why do we get so stinkin surprised when prayers get answered!!! We pray HOPING God will take care of things instead of resting in His Peace KNOWING HE WILL . I too am guilty of being in that group of "we" at times.
Just my thoughts
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BJ McConnell
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Post by BJ McConnell on Mar 24, 2020 19:46:14 GMT -5
Ok here is a good example of what I mean about the Passion Translation being easier. When I read from the King James I seriously thought that nobody cared after Paul raised Eutychus, the man that fell three stories from the window, from the dead. In the Passion Translation it says everyone was ENCOURAGED. I did not get that from the King James...so which one was it??? I can understand, many people have trouble with the language and structure of the KJV. Personally, it is second nature to me and I find myself translating the unique passages in my mind as I read them. I've done a lot of research and based on that, I personally feel the KJV is the most loyal to the original Hebrew and Greek, which helps convey the authors intent and meaning. I will say, the KJV also indicates a positive reaction from the disciples after the man is brought back to life, the wording just comes off in an order that can sound differently unless we slow down a little to examine the structure a little closer. The verse you're talking about in Acts 20:12 says, "And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted". Because the word "not" is in there, it sounds negative at first glance, but if you look at the entire phrase "were not a little comforted", it's actually saying they were the opposite of "a little comforted", which means that they were very comforted by what happened. Ultimately, no translation is going to be perfect so I'm not one to try to sway people to my point of view --- KJV is love it or hate it for most and I respect how others feel about it. I will say there are certain publishers and translations I will not go near because there is solid evidence many of them are making intentional changes to words, spelling and even removing things that are solid proof that apostacy is finding its way into the translation process of current bibles. The closer we get to the Lord's return, the worse it will become as some out there mean to pervert and corrupt the gospel message. Unfortunately, many Christians do not read the bible, or read it carefully enough to notice what these apostates are doing to the Word of God. That's why studying instead of just reading the Word is important.
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BJ McConnell
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Post by BJ McConnell on Mar 24, 2020 20:09:30 GMT -5
Also I LOVE Paul's attitude. He tells everyone "Stop your worrying. He's come back to life!" Then he goes back upstairs serves communion, eats with them then picks back up where he left off teaching!!! Like it's all in a day's work! Paul is showing us as we walk and have a FELLOWSHIP with the Lord we should expect these type things...miracles, signs and wonders. It should be apart of every day Life. If you truly believe what we say we do then why do we get so stinkin surprised when prayers get answered!!! We pray HOPING God will take care of things instead of resting in His Peace KNOWING HE WILL . I too am guilty of being in that group of "we" at times. Just my thoughts I agree with you on every point! To me, it is a prime example of the difference between faith and religion. A religious person will go to church, tell you they believe in God, even in Jesus. They can walk the walk and talk the talk, but many do not have the faith to believe that it goes any further than that. They don't believe in the supernatural being a part of a believer's daily life. There are denominations out there today that are saying they believe in Jesus, but they don't believe in the literal resurrection. Can you imagine? A Christian who doesn't believe Christ really rose from the dead? What would even be the point? Paul addressed such thoughts at length in 1 Corinthians Chapter 15: So yeah, I agree with you completely. If we are living by faith, then the supernatural needs to be a part of our expectations, a product of our faith in the promises of God. Without that, just like Paul said, our faith is worth nothing and we are wasting our time and our testimony would be fruitless.
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BJ McConnell
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Post by BJ McConnell on Mar 24, 2020 21:27:09 GMT -5
Hey I figured out how to leave a message!!!!!! I'm so glad you did! It's really nice to get some discussion going Don't forget to come back often and keep the conversations going
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BJ McConnell
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Sept 28, 2019 2:32:20 GMT -5
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Post by BJ McConnell on Mar 25, 2020 14:14:50 GMT -5
Since we've already been discussing the incident in Acts chapter 20 when Eutychus falls out of the window and God brings him back to life when Paul fell on him, I wanted to bring up another similar incident I came across as I was studying out those verses. We actually see in the scriptures several times where this type of healing occurs, so to say that Paul did this with no doubt that the man would be brought back to life is not surprising because he was well versed in the Old Testament scriptures so I'm sure he knew of the time when Elijah demonstrated this same type of healing through God's power. Let's take a minute and go to 1 Kings to read the account:
Now, did Paul take action to bring Eutychus back to life this way because of Elijah's experience, or was it simply Paul following the leading of the Holy Spirit? I don't know the answer to that, but there is clearly a precedent that would support the thinking that Paul was acting based on the foreknowledge of how the widow's boy had been brought back to life through Elijah's actions in 1 Kings.
So, if Paul's response was based on his knowledge of the scriptures, this provides a strong reminder to us on why we need to study the word. As Christians trying to live out life in a lost and fallen world, we need to KNOW the scriptures. We need to have that weapon at hand in order to fight against those principalities and powers we face every day. Paul himself tells us in Ephesians 6:17 that the Word is the Sword of the Spirit with which we fight against the enemy. We cannot use that sword if we don't know what our Bibles say. As Paul tells us, we have to "...take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." (Ephesians 6:13)
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BJ McConnell
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Post by BJ McConnell on Mar 25, 2020 14:43:44 GMT -5
There is one thing early on in chapter 19 that I wanted to talk about. Verses 11 and 12 in chapter 19 tells us about some of the miracles that are taking place through Paul. The scriptures don't say specifically, but I'm assuming that it's these miracles that the Jewish exorcists described in verse 13 have seen which causes them to try to use Paul's name to cast out evil spirits. In a way, what ends up happening is pretty comical, but as funny as it seems, it does make me think of a pretty important question.
In verses 14-17 we are told there are seven sons of this chief of the Jewish priests who attempt to cast out a demon using the names of Jesus and Paul. The evil spirit's response? "And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?" (Acts 19:15) After that, the spirit jumps on the seven Jews and chases them out of the house without any clothes on! Kinda funny I know, but to me it does beg the question, as Christians, what do we need to do so that the evil spirits know our name?
The spirit knew Paul's name just like it knew Jesus name. That's good company to be in if you're Paul, so if we want to be fruitful to the kingdom of God, shouldn't the evil spirits be just as familiar with who we are? We should pose such a threat to the evil spirits in this world that they fear our names. So my question is, how do we make that happen? What does it take to establish that type of reputation as Christians?
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BJ McConnell
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Post by BJ McConnell on Mar 25, 2020 15:06:44 GMT -5
In the last half of chapter 20, Paul is addressing the believers from Ephesus. Paul tells them that the Holy Spirit has given him an indication that he is going to face trouble when he goes to Jerusalem. Paul provides us with an example that we, as fellow believers, should be striving to be like every day. You can tell while he is speaking to the believers that Paul is convinced he will not be able to come back to see the churches again because he tells them they will not see his face again. It's not clear if Paul knows he will be imprisoned in Rome, or if he just thinks his life might be in jeopardy because of the Jews in Jerusalem, but in any case I think it's important to note Paul's attitude toward what the Holy Spirit is revealing to him about the upcoming trials he will be facing:
That is an amazing statement in my opinion. Paul is saying that nothing, including his own life, is more important to him than being able to tell others the gospel. This should be the attitude of every believer. The church suffered great persecution in the times depicted in Acts, and even today there are many countries where suffering for the gospel is still a very real thing. But what about us American believers? We can't even attend Sunday morning service unless there's a Starbucks in the church foyer. If we want our country to be a God fearing nation, we need to find that passion Paul shows us when he says "neither count I my life dear unto myself".
Just a thought I had, feel free to expound upon it.
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